Hobart Macquarie Probus Club attend a special bicentenary event
28 May 2018
Several members of the Hobart Macquarie Probus Club were fortunate enough to be invited to attend a special bicentenary event at the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens. HRH The Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, unveiled a plaque to commemorate the start of the bicentennial celebrations at the Gardens on 10 April, 2018.
Pictured with Prince Edward is The Governor of Tasmania, Her Excellency Professor the Honourable Kate Warner AC who welcomed the Prince and the assembled audience and spoke briefly of the history of the gardens opened in 1818 and the newly-designed lilypond viewing ‘pads’ where the ceremony took place.
Hobart Macquarie Probian Heather Pryor is the Zone Coordinator of Southern Tasmania of the Garden Clubs of Australia and was requested by the Gardens Director, Gary Davis, to invite 50 GCA members to be strategically placed around the lilypond to view the opening.
Nature smiled on the event in Hobart with glorious balmy weather while temperatures soared on the mainland. Students from The Hutchins School sang as Prince Edward passed by them and a string quartet, Strings on Fire, played glorious tunes by Handel and Vivaldi to the delight of the audience prior to and during the event. The Prince was an engaging and amusing speaker with a flair for comic timing and even commented that the ducks lazing amongst the waterlilies were most inattentive to the important proceedings.
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